Entries in video games
(16)

This week, we'll be addressing some questions about the next project, Codename Jenga. I'm sure there will be questions left unanswered, and some purposely left vague, but this will be the "go-to" post for a while describing what Codename Jenga is.

Q: Tell us about the game already!

A: Now, now, patience is a virtue, but all right, you've been reading patiently for a couple of sentences! In essence, Codename Jenga is about building a world and managing the chaos that affects it. This is purposely a vague term, because it shares similarities between games as broad as Dwarf Fortress to SimCity, although the depth has more in common with the former.

Dwarf Fortress is about (among many things), building a world that feels alive, due to the depth of gameplay detail its creators have attempted to create. However, anyone who has played (or tried to play) Dwarf Fortress is very aware of its faults. Its interface and graphical design are dated and hard to use. Its player feedback is confusing at best and non-existant at worst. Its world feels alive, but the graphics don't do it justice - a deliberate choice made by the designers that we're taking a different path on.

SimCity shares many of the core "fun ideas" that Dwarf Fortress uses, but is a lot more accessible. Both games share the activity of creating a world, and managing the chaos that ensues. Codename Jenga will be doing the same, although with a different theme than either Dwarf Fortress or SimCity.

Q: That sounds awesome, but I still want to SEE it, and play it! What's the release schedule??

A: We'll announce formally as soon as we have something to show (right now, things are very prototype-ey). The formal announcement will probably be sometime in July or early August, with the demo and preorder becoming available in late August or September. The demo will be available for free to play on the web, PC, or Mac. If you preorder, you'll receive the latest version of the game as its updated, leading up to the release, at a cheaper price than the final cost.

Q: Can't you tell us ANYTHING ELSE?

A: It has tiles, but they're in 3D, sort of.

And that's it for this week! As always, you can contact us with questions, either on Facebook, Twitter, or email (info [at] redbuttongames [dot] com). Follow us on Twitter and Facebook as well!

This is the first of many posts, hopefully weekly, to let all our fans know about what we're doing. We'll talk about what we were able to do this week and provide updates that might not fit into a press release, as well as review important news snippets from throughout the week.

Although Red Button Games has existed for a few years in various states, June 1st marks a milestone for us - our first (although non-paid) full-time employee. It means iterating faster on game ideas, quicker turnaround, and more focus on our next project. We're not ready to formally announce anything, but we want to give as much details to you, our fans. So until we can formally announce anything, we'll be calling it Codename: Jenga.

Codename: Jenga will be developed in an "pre-order alpha/beta" approach, similar to Minecraft, Cortex Command, and plenty of other games. Once we have something playable and fun, we'll release the alpha, and allow preorders, which will give people instant access to the current version of the game and all future versions. We'll be using Unity, and we'll be targeting PC/Mac/web for the initial release. We may expand to other platforms later, but for the discernable future, we'll be focusing on gameplay rather than platforms.

Next week we'll be addressing more specifics about Codename: Jenga. If you have any specific questions, you can ask them on the Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail us at info [at] redbuttongames [dot] com. You can also join our Facebook page or follow us on twitter to make sure you don't miss anything.

Choose to fight as the Soviet Comrades or Capitolist Swine in a fast-paced team-based tower defense game

Red Button Games has announced the release of their second game, "All Your Creeps", on Xbox LIVE Indie Games. Up to 4 players on one Xbox 360 can take the side of Soviet Russia or the USA in a cold war-era standoff on Russia's soil. The USSR is about to reach space - can the Soviet forces defend the launch pad long enough to hold off the invaders, or will America prevent this event and win the space race?

Players have the freedom to choose one side or the other, without the need to have balanced teams. If you have four players, you can have one versus three, two versus two, or have all four play against the computer player. Players choose from a variety of towers and creeps to use that have strengths and weaknesses. Are the Soviets destroying you with their laser turrets? Toss the bulkiest creep you can. There's an opening between towers that leads right to the launch pad? That's a job for the fastest option on the team.

"All Your Creeps" is available now on Xbox LIVE Indie Games. A trial version of the game for 2 players is available to download for free. Search for "creeps" with Bing on Xbox LIVE.

Today voting starts on candidates for the Summer Indie Games Uprising, and All Your Creeps is among the list! Voting is restricted to Xbox LIVE Indie Games developers, with a fan vote occurring later. We thought now would be a great time to publish a gameplay trailer, along with a few screenshots of development.

All Your Creeps will be available on Xbox LIVE Indie Games in August 2011.

Choose to fight along the Soviet Comrades or Capitalist Pigs in this Team-based Tower Defense Game

Red Button Games has announced their next title, "All Your Creeps", due on Xbox LIVE Indie Games this June. Up to 4 players on one Xbox 360 can take the side of Soviet Russia or the USA in a cold war-era standoff on Russia's soil. The USSR is about to reach space - can the Soviet forces defend the launch pad long enough to hold off the invaders, or will America prevent this event and win the space race?

Players choose which team they want to play on, without worrying about an unfair balance. If you have four players, you can have one versus three, two versus two, or have all four play against the computer player. Players choose from a variety of towers and creeps to use that have strengths and weaknesses.

Are the Soviets destroying you with their laser turrets? Toss the bulkiest creep you can. There's an opening between towers that leads right to the launch pad? That's a job for the fastest option on the team.

"All Your Creeps" is now in playtest on the AppHub forums. Any AppHub member can download the newest build and get a preview for what's coming in June.